I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a virtual telemicroscope system (VTS) and, more particularly, to a method and system for using a computer system as a telemicroscope.
II. Background of the Related Art
Telepathology is a field that combines the disciplines of pathology, computer science and telecommunication. It captures, digitizes, transmits, displays and manipulates pathological and medical images for the purpose of analysis, consultation, collaboration, diagnosis; training and standardization. Compared with conventional pathology, telepathology is more efficient, economical and flexible. It enables medical image evaluation to be performed at any location, any time, as long as the evaluator has access to a computer with adequate network connection.
The history of telemedicine and telepathology goes back to the early days of computer science and telecommunication, and its progress has paralleled the advancement of these two fields. Physicians have long been experimenting with the idea of delivering medical service to distant locations by means of telecommunication.
Telemedicine has come a long way. Certain disciplines, such as teleradiology, have been successfully implemented in many hospitals throughout the world. However, telepathology and telemedicine face a number of obstacles. These include computer speed and capacity, programming techniques, compression strategy, network transmission bandwidth, the way the images are displayed and manipulated, physicians' and technicians' training, as well as administrative issues such as medical licensing, legality, payment, medical insurance, patient privacy, etc.
In addition, for telepathology in particular, much of the resistance to these new technologies from the pathology community has been that the microscopic images have been handled and viewed in a way that is very different from the traditional manner in which the cases are evaluated. The transmitted images are usually static, isolated, and often represent only portions of the entire tissue section. The pathologists frequently hesitate in making any pathologic diagnosis based on the computer images of a partial tissue section displayed in an unfamiliar manner. When the entire specimen is digitized, the process takes a considerable amount of time (a few hours), involving specially designed and expensive automatic microscopic equipment and lengthy scanning steps. This, together with the limited computer capacity, the relatively narrow transmission bandwidth and the very high cost, has hindered the practical value of this potentially very useful technology up to the present day.
With the recent development of fast computers, wide band transmission network and new programming technology, this situation is rapidly changing. This VT system takes advantage of recent advancements and overcomes some of the major technical obstacles in telepathology. It aims to popularize this technology with a new approach.
In an international conference on telepathology on Dec. 3-5, 1996, leading experts in the field of telepathology agreed that at sufficient resolution, the digitized computer images can be adequate for pathological diagnosis and consultation. There are systems for similar Purposes. However, no practical system was available to provide a pathologist with a full magnified or non-magnified view of the entire specimen and at the same time a desired view of selected portions of the specimen at a different magnification. The available systems rely on remotely controlled microscope and camera and broadband network connection, or lengthy process of digitization of slides, involving cost far beyond the justification of the practical value for most pathologists worldwide.